Soft Vinyl Zenfushou Toy

18 May 2016
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I've always been fascinated with Tsukumogami; the idea that unused, inanimate objects can eventually become animated if left for too long. In November, I sculpted a kettle Tsukumogami, traditionally called Zenfushou, out of paper clay. I poured a two part silicon mold, then pulled a few resin casts to sell at events.

I took the same silicon mold, and working with Cory Privitera of Science Patrol, pulled a wax cast. After cleaning the wax, it was sent to a metal plating factory in Tokyo. There, a metal mold was made. The mold was then sent to a vinyl toy factory in eastern Tokyo, and soft vinyl pulls were taken from the newly made metal mold.

Soft vinyl is a robust material that is highly resistant to damage, maintains its shape, and takes paint very well. For this first run of 44 pieces, they were sold in a gachapon machine at Design Festa 43, and left unpainted.